Carlos Miller is founder and publisher of Photography is Not a Crime, which began as a one-man blog in 2007 to document his trial after he was arrested for photographing police during a journalistic assignment.
He is also the author of The Citizen Journalist's Photography Handbook, which can be purchased through Amazon.

Broward Bulldog makes it debut

October 30, 2009

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Update: While Broward Bulldog states it is Florida’s first non-profit news site, there have been several that have emerged throughout the country, including one in Texas called the Texas Tribune where the CEO is making more than $300,000 and the top-paid reporter is making $90,000 a year. So maybe there is hope for this type of business model.

If you’re loud enough, you will be heard, despite how many people try to stifle your voice. Especially if you’re a journalist with a reputation for bulldog reporting.

That is why we should all welcome Broward Bulldog, a non-profit news site that is operated by several veteran South Florida journalists.

The first article, titled Anatomy of a Frame-Up, describes how South Florida cops and prosecutors sent a mentally retarded man to prison for life in 1980 on scant evidence, where he remained 22 years until DNA cleared his name.

Meanwhile, the real murderer went on to kill 10 people.

And now taxpayers have to pay $5 million in lawsuits.

While the details of this case are pretty much old news, it is important to continue documenting it because these incidents are hardly isolated, as journalist Radley Balko continually demonstrates on his blog.

Hopefully, Broward Bulldog will fulfill its promise of providing hard-hitting, enterprise stories, the kind that have declined in our local newspapers.

This is how it describes itself:

Broward Bulldog is an independent, not for profit online-only newspaper created to provide authoritative local reporting in the public interest. We are Florida’s first non-profit regional news site staffed by veteran, professional journalists. Our reporters will provide issue-oriented and investigative coverage of government, politics, the courts, education, business, the environment, health and public safety.

The site has an impressive journalistic team behind it, including Dan Christensen and Buddy Nevins as well as Julie Kay, president of the South Florida chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, who personally has provided tremendous support towards me in my legal dilemma.

At a time when the corporate media continues to lay off journalists, we should expect more of these types of sites to emerge.

While Broward Bulldog might not have figured out how to keep the operation afloat financially, neither has any other news organization.

But at least they understand journalism and that is something the corporate bigwigs fail to grasp.

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I am a multimedia journalist who has been fighting a lengthy legal battle after having photographed Miami police against their wishes in Feb. 2007. Please help the fight by donating to my Legal Defense Fund in the top left sidebar, which helps pay for the thousands of dollars I’ve acrued in debt since my arrest. To keep updated on the latest articles, join my networks at Facebook,Twitterand Friendfeed.